Told You So

Background: Ten years ago, the Farmington City Council purchased the Civic Theatre and promised it would pay its own way and no tax dollars would be used to cover costs. This past month, the council forgave a loan in the amount of $118,924. When first discussed long ago, I wrote this letter:

While the antics of many of our elected officials have provided us with hours of laughter, the city of Farmington has decided to formalize the relationship between entertainment and government. The purchase of the Civic Theatre will turn city taxpayers into speculative business investors.

Given the trend toward 20-screen megaplexes, the investment seems risky. To alleviate citizen concern, city leaders assure us taxpayer money will not be used to operate the theater. Perhaps, but the initial purchase and remodeling of the theater will use tax dollars. And if the Civic fails to generate enough income to pay operating expenses, how will the costs be covered? Will the city council skip payments to employees and suppliers or will they renege on their promise and dip into the city coffers? If the council is certain of the Civic’s success, maybe they wouldn’t mind personally covering potential shortfalls?

Here's today's letter:

Ten years ago, members of the Farmington City Council approved the purchase of the Civic Theatre turning city taxpayers into speculative business investors. Council members promised citizens that tax dollars would not be used and the theater was a good investment. The city council reneged on that promise when it wrote off $118,924.

Council members were so sure this was a good investment because they violated one of the seven principles of sound government espoused by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy: Nobody spends somebody else’s money as carefully as he spends his own. If council members were so sure of the Civic’s success, they should have invested their own money.

Taxpayers would be wise to remember this when politicians claim they need to spend our money on their “good” investments.

[Letter to the Editor - Farmington Observer. Published 06/25/2009.]